Freedom Rider: Propaganda

by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley

One of the reasons the U.S. government is such a danger to world peace, is U.S. “public acceptance and approval of nearly every crime committed by our government.” Americans pretend to believe in due process of law, but are quick to condemn to death any foreign leader that gets on the wrong side of the U.S. propaganda machine.

Freedom Rider: Propaganda

by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley

“If an American president decides that the elected head of state in other country must go, then go he must.”

German chancellor Angela Merkel said that Russian president Vladimir Putin was not “in touch with reality” and was “in another world.” At least that is how the New York Times quotes an unnamed source. Those words have been repeated by reporters, bloggers, pundits and late night talk show hosts numerous times over the past week. Unfortunately there are a few problems with this often repeated quote. There is no proof that Merkel said such a thing at all, and if she did that she meant he was unstable, as many Americans happily and ignorantly assert. Logic and real reporting show that such a statement was highly unlikely. No matter. It has endlessly been reported as fact. Welcome to American style propaganda.

It is impossible for most Americans to think that their country and their government are not beloved around the world. That attitude is due to the relentless propaganda we are subject to our entire lives. We are told our nation is the best, richest, most just, and most deserving. After years of brain washing we are subject to a cynical collaboration between politicians and big business, the same big businesses who run our media outlets and determine what we’ll see and what we should think about what they choose to reveal.

This perversity has many negative consequences. Among them is the public acceptance and approval of nearly every crime committed by our government. If an American president decides that the elected head of state in other country must go, then go he must. The president of Haiti was literally kidnapped by the United States and taken out of his country, with hardly any outcry from Americans. If the Venezuelan people vote for a leftist government and make the same choice in election after election, we are told to ignore the will of that population and join our government in opposing another people’s choice.

“The Obama administration is determined to make good on neo-con fantasies of United States world domination.”

The current target of government and media propaganda is Russian president Vladimir Putin. When George W. Bush was president he bestowed the silly moniker Putey Pute and the press followed right along in declaring Putin an A OK kind of guy. He was a friend of our president who knew how to do a deal when called upon and who wouldn’t rock America’s boat.

Fast forward another ten years or so. When the United States and NATO nations set their sights on making Ukraine a puppet fiefdom, the president of the superpower next door said not so fast. Suddenly he was no longer Putey Pute, but an enemy to be hated, feared or derided as a figure of fun. The Obama administration is determined to make good on neo-con fantasies of United States world domination, and anyone who stands in the way is the next target of propaganda from within the government and without.

Photos taken on one day five years ago showing a shirtless Putin are shown again and again. One gets the impression that he rarely wears any clothing. The same media who consideredPutin good copy because he hunts, fishes, pilots planes, swims with dolphins and drives formula one race cars now use the same information to convince Americans that he is either a brute or a foolwho can and should be bent to their country’s will.

The anti-Putin hysteria and joke telling began in earnest when he put a stop to Obama’s plan to attack Syria, Russia’s ally.Even the recent Winter Olympics became a victim of the United States propaganda machine. In truth, every Olympics is an opportunity for corruption, theft, and displacement of thousands of people. The Sochi games were no worse in those regards but tales of mismanagement and possible terror attacks were magnified because Uncle Sam’s enemy du jour was on worldwide display. When the United States and NATO attempt to make Ukraine a puppet fiefdom met resistance, no stone was unturned in the anti-Putin propaganda fest.

“The anti-Putin hysteria and joke telling began in earnest when he put a stop to Obama’s plan to attack Syria, Russia’s ally.”

Like good little scribes the media follow the White House line that German chancellor Angela Merkel would assist in bolstering the United States position vis a vis Putin. The networks and newspapers were so eager to curry favor that they omitted any mention of reports that the NSA tapped Merkel’s personal cell phone for a period of ten years. Of course bringing up that story would force coverage of whistle blower Edward Snowden’s revelations. That is a sore subject for the White House and has of course been relegated away from the front pages now that public compliance is so urgently needed.

The media also omitted the fact that Putin speaks German. The two leaders literally speak the same language and both are targets of United States efforts to control the world and turn everyone into a subject of domination or an enemy. It may be Obama administration wishful thinking that Merkel will carry America’s water but there is no reason for anyone else to believe such nonsense.

The New York Times happily picked up the bone left by the Obama White House but didn’t bother telling readers that Merkel’s staff disputed the account. The German newspaper Die Welt reported that "The chancellery was not pleased with the reporting on the conversation. They claim that what the chancellor said was that Putin has a different perception on Crimea, which is why she is pushing for a fact finding mission on the matter."

We will never know her exact words but we do know the most important fact of all. The United States government creates and disseminates propaganda to assist in having its way with the world. They have ready and willing compatriots in the corporate media and an apathetic or uniformed public. That mixture is a recipe for lying to be undisputed and for wrongs to go on without protest. Propaganda is not a word meant just for other countries but for ours too. There is official propaganda right here in America and pretending it doesn’t exist only strengthens a system which will put itself and the rest of the world on a course of ultimate destruction.

Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. She maintains a frequently updated blog as well as at http://freedomrider.blogspot.com. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgendaReport.com.

4 Comments

The empire is leaving no stone unturned in its media propaganda campaign against Russia. The Russian news channel RT (rt.com) is being infiltrated by US covert ops. This past week, two RT journalists criticized Russia's "invasion" of Ukraine/Crimea. Liz Wahl (see YouTube clip) resigned on air saying she couldn't continue reporting lies of Putin, yada, yada. Abby Martin also said she had to speak out because Putin's invasion of Ukraine/Crimea was wrong. The two performances were straight out of the CIA/State Dept playbook and predictably landed both women interviews with US pressitute outlets such as Fox and CNN. Look for either or both provacateurs on one the US Ministry of Misinformation channels or blogs soon.

Martin admitted to "not knowing much about the Ukraine situation." Woman, please. She is surrounded by a crapload of journalists at RT who have been reporting on the situation nonstop. Further, isn't research and interviewing others who know part of the job of a journalist if said journalist is unfamiliar with the issue? I always said Martin was holding out for a spot on MSNBC ever since she lauded Cory Booker as her Hero of the Week for his living off food stamps stunt, and, for interviewing Messy Jesse on MLK day. Any indy journalist worth a half damn knows the real 411 on Booker and Jackson and isn't lauding or inviting for a few quotes to fete MLK either of these misleadershippers.

The infiltration of RT has been brewing for awhile. Wayne Madsen reported a while back on George Soros' funding possibly being behind an infiltration effort of RT and all fingers point to this being accurate. The above-mentioned performances along with the decreased appearances of Madsen and Ray McGovern on RT; the Keiser Report being moved from its prime time slot and replaced with Martin's program or ex-CNN pablum host Larry King; and the disclaimer now shown before Keiser's show that says views expressed on show don't necessarily reflect those of RT management are clear signs something's going on. I guess the empire considers RT a threat now as more people are abandoning propaganda outlets CNN, MSNBC, and Fox.

So now I'm beginning to wonder if OBomber & the EU [= NATO], et-al are really so Dr Strange-Love like to really try a show-down w Putin re Ukraine? [IMO Putin won't nor could he back down & just let NATO / EU set-up camp there]? They must know that they can call Putin all the [hypocritical] names in the book- Putin will never just let US & NATO just walk-in & take Ukraine! So are they really ready to go to WWIII over Ukraine -OR- Is this really a ploy to distract Putin re: Syria?

Putin was likely the key obstacle that stopped OBomber & crew from bombing Syria- w OBomber trying to use that suspect sarin gas attack as his 'red-line' pretext [although other important factors & players also played a role]. Well now that Putin's too distracted in Ukraine & w the Neo-CONS & Neo-Liberals still probing for a way to militarily intervene in Syria after torpedoing those fake so-called {war is}'Peace' Talks [see the recent debate here @ TRRN between Dave Swanson & Danny Postel- where Postel comes up w yet another 'humanitarian' pretext for {quasi}NATO forces to intervene in Syria {see @ http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11539 ]- IMO w Putin's full attention on Ukraine & Crimea, he might not be able to effectively check any US / NATO / GCC / IDF machinations in Syria the next time around [as important as Syria is to Russia- Ukraine's Crimea is doubly so].

PS: About all this wolfing [= bluffing] the US is doing about putting sanctions on Russia- Russia ain't Cuba, Venezuela nor Libya, Iraq or Iran. If Russia & China pulls out of the petro-dollar- of course the shock-waves would hurt Russia & China- but IMO the petro-dollar would likely be finished & the US' debt laden econ would crumble.

People who believe in 'god' should say 'thank god for Putin.' The rest of us should appreciate his refusing to be bullied. I don't appreciate his closeness to a corrupt patriach but on the other hand, he has a constituency there and this world is not (and likely never will be) free of raw politics. But insofar as standing up to a criminal regime founded on lies, we all should appreciate him.

The USA is so far removed from the rule of law in geo-political reality (perhaps not unrelated the social decay at home), pointing a finger at Putin while pushing NATO in Russia's face in a 21st Century nuclear armed edition of 'the great game' begs an examination of the very sanity of those who would rule us.

Left unchecked, the USA, with its 'christian dominion' Pentagon, is on course to bring our world to science fiction 'passion of the christ' x 'roller-ball' x 'matrix' reality.

Meanwhile Merkel plays both sides, is unimaginative, even cowardly. Islamic terror cells are busted in Germany, but when a policeman is implicated in the neo-nazi murder of a policewoman, it becomes a cold case almost from inception of the investigation. And Merkel refusing to call out the Svoboda (neo-nazi) party with five ministers in the new regime in Kiev, recalls denazification having never taken hold in the south of Germany, where her CDU's 'sister party', the CSU, is critical to propping her up.

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